A Facebook post published on August 20, 2026, claims that a plane crashed in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), amid an economic and political crisis. The post is accompanied by a photo showing the wreckage of a plane after a crash, with part of the aircraft damaged and debris scattered on the ground. However, a reverse image search on Yandex revealed that the photo actually shows the wreckage of a Turkish Airlines plane near Amsterdam-Schiphol airport.
According to the Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives, the crash involved Turkish Airlines flight TK1951, a Boeing 737-800 flying from Istanbul to Amsterdam-Schiphol in the Netherlands. The plane crashed on February 25, 2009, while approaching the airport, resulting in the deaths of nine of the 135 people on board. This information contradicts the claim that the photo shows a plane crash in Kinshasa in August 2026.
A Google search using the keywords "Kinshasa plane crash August 2026" did not yield any credible results. However, it was found that a cargo plane veered off the runway at Kinshasa airport on September 8, 2026. The aircraft in question differed from the one in the photo being examined.
The false publication comes amid a political crisis in the DRC, marked by debates around a possible change to the Constitution. PesaCheck, a fact-checking initiative, examined the Facebook post and found it to be false. This is part of PesaCheck's ongoing efforts to verify content marked as potential disinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
PesaCheck's fact-checking process involves partnerships with Facebook and similar social media platforms to help separate fact from fiction. The organization provides the public with a deeper understanding and context of the posts they see in their social media feeds. Users can report suspected false information on Facebook, and PesaCheck has a methodology in place for verifying dubious content.
The fact-checking article was written by a PesaCheck fact-checker, edited by Josaphat Finogbé, and approved for publication by Doreen Wainainah, PesaCheck's editor-in-chief. PesaCheck is an initiative co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is incubated by Code for Africa, a civic technology and data journalism accelerator.
PesaCheck aims to help the public distinguish between reality and fiction in public statements about figures that shape the world, with a focus on public finances and their impact on sustainable development goals. The organization also tests the accuracy of media reports, and more information about the project can be found on pesacheck.org.
Key points
- The photo shows the wreckage of a Turkish Airlines plane that crashed near Amsterdam-Schiphol airport on February 25, 2009.
- The crash in question resulted in the deaths of nine people, and was not related to an incident in Kinshasa in August 2026.
- PesaCheck's fact-checking initiative helps to verify content and separate fact from fiction on social media platforms.
